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What's the story?
The closing segment of tonight's Monday Night Raw saw Paul Heyman come out to the ring with the Universal Championship and cut a lengthy promo on how Roman Reigns has no chance of beating Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title at WrestleMania.
During the segment, Heyman revealed that Lesnar would indeed be present on Raw next week in Detroit. Reigns then made his entry and assured that he would also be present next week, to face off against "The Beast Incarnate".
In case you didn’t know…
Though Lesnar won the Universal Championship from Goldberg almost a year ago at WrestleMania 33, he has only defended it a total of five times on TV - at The Great Balls of Fire, SummerSlam, No Mercy, Survivor Series and lastly at the Royal Rumble PPV last month.
After winning the Men's Elimination Chamber match for a shot at the Universal Championship, Roman Reigns was set to come face to face with Brock Lesnar for the first time since his victory, last week on Raw. In what is widely believed to be a work by WWE, Brock Lesnar no-showed at Raw, causing Reigns to cut a shoot style promo about how "The Beast Incarnate" was an entitled non-deserving Superstar, who hides behind his contract, and how Lesnar didn't respect the Universal Championship.
The heart of the matter
After Heyman confirmed that the Universal Champion would, in fact, be present on Raw next week, Reigns sent Lesnar a message through his advocate. The Big Dog told Lesnar not to come dressed for a promo segment, but to show up dressed for a fight!
What's next?
Reigns and Lesnar are set to face off in what is sure to be an explosive segment on Raw next week, which is set to emanate from the Little Caesar's arena in Detroit, Michigan.
Author's take
WWE pulled off a genius move last week when they deliberately had Brock Lesnar no-show the event. To his credit, Roman Reigns cut one of the best promos of his career, immediately elevating their feud to the next level.
Though Paul Heyman's rant went on far too long this week (there was even a faint Rusev Day chant at one point!), the closing of the show set up a face-off which fans will surely look forward to, on Raw next week.
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